Pope Benedict XVI is making his final address to a general audience in St Peter's Square in the Vatican before his resignation on Thursday.
He told the crowd of thousands it was a heavy burden when he took up the papacy in April 2005 but he had been guided by God and felt his presence every day.
Up to 200,000 people are expected to attend the audience, which - unusually for winter - is taking place outdoors.
There has not been a papal resignation since Gregory XII in 1415.
After Benedict XVI steps down, he will become known as "pope emeritus".
The surprise announcement of his abdication has required the rules of electing a successor to be changed to allow the next pope to be chosen before Holy Week, which leads up to Easter.
The white "popemobile" rolled slowly through St Peter's Square, carrying the 85-year-old Pontiff, who waved to the assembled pilgrims.
They chanted his name and thanked him for his service to the Church. At one point, Pope Benedict paused to kiss a baby who was passed up to him.
Many of the cardinals who will elect his successor are in the square.
Organisers say there will be no traditional kissing of the pontiff's hand because of the sheer size of the expected crowd.
"He doesn't want to favour one or the other of the pilgrims," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told the AFP news agency.
The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome says that on Thursday the Pope will travel by helicopter to his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, about 15 miles (24km) south-east of Rome. He will cease to be Pope at 20:00 local time.
On Tuesday, it emerged that Benedict would be known as "pope emeritus" and would retain the honorific "His Holiness" after his abdication.
He will also continue to be known by his papal title of Benedict XVI, rather than reverting to Joseph Ratzinger.
He will wear his distinctive white cassock without any cape or trimmings, but will surrender his gold ring of office and his personal seal will be destroyed.
He will also give up wearing his red shoes.
"On the one hand I felt that since the decision that he would leave office and resign became public, Pope Benedict is relieved," said the head of the German bishops' conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch.
"But he also now feels the sympathy of the people for him, and therefore he will have a sense of melancholy and nostalgia, a bit of sadness."
The title "emeritus" is used when a person of status, such as a professor or bishop, hands over their position, so their former rank can be retained in their title.
The Pope is to spend his final hours at his Vatican residence saying farewell to the cardinals who have been his closest aides during his
eight-year pontificate, says the BBC's David Willey at the Vatican.
His personal archive of documents will be packed up and, at 20:00 (19:00 GMT) on Thursday, the Swiss Guard on duty at his Castel Gandolfo residence will be dismissed, to be replaced by Vatican police.
This will mark the formal end of his papacy and the beginning of the period of transition to his successor, due to be chosen next month.
From 4 March, the College of Cardinals will meet in general congregations to discuss the problems facing the Church and set a date for the start of the secret election, or conclave, to elect Pope Benedict's successor.
That successor will be chosen by 115 cardinal-electors (those younger than 80 years old) through ballots held in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.
A two-thirds-plus-one vote majority is required. Sixty-seven of the electors were appointed by Benedict XVI, and the remainder by his predecessor John Paul II.
About half the cardinal-electors (60) are European - 21 of them Italian - and many have worked for the administrative body of the Church, the Curia, in Rome.
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